New Apple Hires Point to Focus on Next-Generation Health Sensors

According to a report from 9to5mac, Apple has hired two personal-health sensor experts in the previous months. Both Nancy Dougherty from startup Sano Intelligence and Ravi Narasimhan from medical devices firm Vital Connect were hired by Apple, according to their LinkedIn pages.

Nancy Dougherty who worked for Sano Intelligence has not had her product launched yet, however she was the lead hardware developer on a project to bring a patch that uses needle-less technology to read blood glucose and potassium levels. Apple could perhaps develop such a sensor into its own iWatch.

● Hardware Lead in a very early stage company designing a novel system to continuously monitor blood chemistry via microneedles in the interstitial fluid. Brought system from conception through development and board spins to a functioning wearable pilot device.
• Solely responsible for electrical design, testing, and bring-up as well as system integration; managing contractors for layout, assembly, and mechanical systems
• Building laboratory data collection systems and other required electrical and mechanical systems to support chemical development.


The other hire, Ravi Narasimhan, from Vital Connect was responsible for working on “biosensor technology and algorithms for remote physiological monitoring with wearable medical devices”. Narasimhan's technology could bring heart monitoring, respiration, posture and movements to a wearable device like the iWatch.

In addition to these two hires, 9to5mac is reporting that Apple is also working on bringing Touch ID to the multi-touch screen and not the home button. That is, you could simply slide to unlock and the phone would know your fingerprint versus another one.

Even more interesting is the fact that Apple is also looking into Iris scanning technology that would allow users to unlock their iPhones by simply looking into the front facing camera, a feature that is also rumored to be in the Galaxy S5 later this year.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has teased that 2014 will be a big year for Apple. Only time will tell what the company has up its sleeves.


via 9to5mac